Selected Findings - Demographics

Youth Population
In 2010, there were 47.1 million youth and young adults between the ages of 14 and 24 in the United States, representing 15 percent of the total population. The number of youth and young adults in 2010 was higher than the 46.2 million in 1980. While the number of people in this age group increased by 0.9 million since 1980, their share of the U.S. population declined from 20 to 15 percent between 1980 and 2010.

Living Arrangements
Between 1980 and 2010, the percentage of persons ages 20 to 24 who were householders (i.e., those who owned or rented their own house) or the spouses of householders decreased from 38 to 19 percent. For females in this age range, the decrease was from 47 to 25 percent between these years; for males, the decrease was from 28 to 13 percent.

Birth Rates
Birth rates for 15- to 19-year-olds increased from 53 per 1,000 females in 1980 to 60 per 1,000 in 1990 and then declined to 41 per 1,000 in 2005, increasing slightly to 43 births per 1,000 females in 2007, and decreasing again to 39 births per 1,000 females in 2009. Birth rates for women ages 20 to 24 followed a similar pattern, increasing from 115 to 117 births per 1,000 women between 1980 and 1990 and then declining to 102 per 1,000 in 2005, increasing to 106 per 1,000 women in 2007, and decreasing again to 96 per 1,000 females in 2009.

The birth rate per 1,000 unmarriedteenage females ages 15 to 19 generally increased overall from 1980 to 2008, from 28 to 37 births per 1,000, with a peak at 44 births per 1,000 in 1995. In general, births to unmarried females ages 20 to 24 and ages 25 to 29 increased, approximately doubling between 1980 and 2007, before decreasing slightly between 2007 and 2008. Between these years the rate went from 41 to 79 births per 1,000 unmarried females ages 20 to 24 and from 34 to 76 births per 1,000 unmarried females ages 25 to 29.